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iOS10 brings new games into play

You walk into a bar in the middle of DC. Everyone around you looks tough, dressed in leather jackets with bandanas ties around their foreheads. A man in the corner of the bar spits a loogie, hitting a spittoon hard, followed by a loud “ping.” You’re intimidated as you’re just looking to play a nice game of pool with your friend. You walk over to the tables but they’re all occupied by people who could knock you out in one punch. Scared, you walk out and sprint to your car, never to return to that part of town. If only there was a way to shoot a game of eight ball with your companion.
With the introduction of iOS10 to the iPhone comes a brand new feature that pertains to iMessage: apps you can use within the app. As much as that sounds like something straight out of Inception, it has been a big success for Apple. Apps you can use include Apple Music, GIPHY (which allows you to send gifs organized by keywords) and Game Pigeon, the one everyone is talking about. You’d be hard pressed to find a kid at Wootton who hasn’t at least heard of the app.
The app allows you to relive the days of your youth by providing you with classic games such as Battleship (called Sea Battle,) in which you shoot your opponent’s ships blindly until you hit them, Connect Four (Four in a Row) in which you try to get four game pieces in a line before your opponent does and Mancala, in which you capture more stones than your opponent and try to prevent them from making any moves. While this idea of the app isn’t necessarily revolutionary, it has been a huge hit ever since its release. “My favorite game is Battleship,” junior Simon Bloch said. “I am really good at it and my opponents always lose.”
The most popular game is eight ball pool. It’s the staple of the app, and what most people begin with when they first download it. As of now there are a total of 14 games users can play, but Game Pigeon infers that there are more on their way. Students use this application frequently, but ultimately the most popular is eight ball pool. “I always play pool with my friends. I have about 20 games going on right now,” freshman Molly Burns said.
With new technology comes new entertainment. Thanks, Apple.